Leslie wants to create an energizing essential oil blend for herself. She plans on diffusing it during her morning shower, and her goal is to feel more awake, energized, and uplifted. She wants her essential oil blend to be a combination of aromatic blending (blended primarily for fragrance) and therapeutic blending (blended primarily for an emotional or physical effect).
From my understanding and research (and I’m not an aromatherapist), all essential oils have particular qualities of smell as far as which are smelled first and which last a short while vs. a long while. This is why you blend them together based on those qualities (which are categorized as “notes”) so you can smell each oil among the others and have your blend last longer. Do you have to follow that rule? Of course not. If you’re making blends that are going to smell great and last a good while, should you follow that rule? Probably… I don’t know for sure as I’m not an aromatherapist and I don’t make perfume blends often.

Sleep is one of the most important and restorative processes for our body, and when we don’t get a proper amount of restful, uninterrupted sleep that we need, there are quite a few negative effects on our overall health. Fortunately, there are many excellent essential oils for sleep, which can leave you refreshed, rested and ready to face the world.

I came upon your post while doing a search on essential oils and absolutes. I love your writing style, and overall website design, so that you for this lovely post. Here’s a question for you Do you have experience blending the two? I believe they need an emulifier to make them mix since one is distilled with water and the other via an alcohol process. Any suggestions on a natural emulating agent that will keep these two blended together nicely?

Hey Sarah! I’m actually not an aromatherapist, and I don’t make blends for people. I just share what I’m learning and how I do things. My suggestions for you would be to come up with a cleaning routine that keeps your house clean (which will help with dust mites as you know) and search Google for EO bug blends. I actually have some on GUH, but I’m not sure how they’d work for dust mites. You may also want to work with an aromatherapist if you have more questions. Thanks!

Get on a sleep schedule and go to bed before midnight – Some research suggests that every hour of sleep prior to 12 am is equal to 2 hours after. It's really important that you start going to bed at a normal hour, as your body adjusts, you will begin to wake up earlier naturally, without feeling so groggy, and you'll also begin to become tired as evening approaches.
The whole article was really helpful! My girlfriend and I are currently trying to find ways to raise money so she can fund a research aimed to study and protect a species that is now endangered in our country but it has been very difficult as many people don’t feel concerned. We’re now trying to find other ideas and she came up with the idea of making candles. Mixing essential oils can be quite difficult when you’re not sure if they would blend together well, especially when you don’t already have them on hand… Our idea is to create candles made from organic soy wax, that could also double as massage candles (she already made some and it does wonders for the skin), and blend oils with natural scents that remind people of different environments where they can also find endangered species, since we plan on donating a percentage of the money to different non-profit organizations. We had some ideas but don’t know much about essential oils, and this article has been SO helpful and is already helping us with our list of mixes so we can create wonderful scents. All these tips will also help us get to a slightly less ”amateur” result so we can offer products with different depths and scents, that last longer. Thanks a lot!
From my understanding, the total number of oils is not the safety concern, it’s the total amount of EOs used (the final dilution) that matters. While there are various dilution guidelines, these are the most recent recommendations from aromatherapists I respect. Products that cover large portions of your body and sit on the skin for long periods of time (like lotions) need to be diluted more (1-2% depending on the strength of the EOs used). Products that don’t sit on the skin for long (like body washes) can be diluted less (around 5-10%, again depending on the strength of the oils used). Products that cover larger portions of skin (salve with EOs) should be more diluted (2-3%) compared to products that cover smaller portions of skin (roller bottle spot applications) which can be less diluted (5%). Age and health will also be a factor in dilution amounts. Children and the elderly need their EOs to be diluted more as their livers are slower at metabolizing EO chemicals than a healthy teenager or adult liver. Dilution also depends on the strength of the oil. For example, cinnamon bark requires more dilution than cinnamon leaf. Does this make sense? A lot of EO books (like this one) give recommendations and guidelines for this sort of thing.
Clary sage essential oil – Containing some of the same properties as valerian, clary sage is a very effective sedative. In fact, when studied in comparison to lavender, chamomile, and rosemary, for the strongest anti-stressor, clary sage leads the pack and beat them all out. I love the relaxant properties of clary sage so much that I like to use it in both my Aunt Flo's Soothing Salve and my Don't Worry Be Happy anti-anxiety blend!

I’m so so sorry Diana, but I’m definitely not a perfumist. That blend sounds awesome… like something I’d definitely wear, but I’m no help. This article is a basis how to on how to blend… I don’t know enough about the smells of individual oils to be able to tell you what you’re missing and how much of each oil to use. You’ll just have to experiment and see or consult with someone who makes essential oil perfumes. Thanks!

I have used the eucalyptus oil for when my daughter was really congested. I put a few drops in the humidifier and she slept really well after 2 nights of constant waking up. The lavender smell is amazing and used it for making my own cleaning supply. I used a 5 to 7 drops of lavender in a spray bottle of warm water and vinegar. Works great on counters, glass, mirrors and leaves a wonder smell. I tried tea tree oil with a little bit of oil on a blemish and it it got better in 2 days. The bottles will probably last me a good 6 to 9 months. Great buy for the price.